Rancho has high hopes for 241 extension

April 12, 2013

Updated Aug. 21, 2013 1:17 p.m.

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Today the 241 toll road ends here, at Oso Parkway just south of Rancho Santa Margarita. City offiicals and city business owners believe a proposed 5.5-mile extension of the road will be a boon for city businesses. ISAAC ARJONILLA, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Today the 241 toll road ends here, at Oso Parkway just south of Rancho Santa Margarita. City offiicals and city business owners believe a proposed 5.5-mile extension of the road will be a boon for city businesses. ISAAC ARJONILLA, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Toll road usage

Here are the number of FasTrak accounts and FasTrak transactions by city:

Mission Viejo: 16,755; 236,467

Rancho Santa Margarita: 12,162; 500,585

Lake Forest: 10,898; 248,755

Trabuco Canyon: 9,431; 466,479

Ladera Ranch: 5,378; 114,133

Foothill Ranch: 3,012; 124,567

Source: Transportation Corridor Agencies

By the numbers

$200 million

Estimated cost to extend the 241 5.5 miles to Cow Camp Road

2,015

Estimated number of jobs created in O.C. by Tesoro Extension, according to study by Beacon Economics

13,633

Estimated number of jobs created in O.C. if entire extension were built, according to Beacon

7,000

Average estimated number of vehicles traveling between Oso and Antonio parkways on the 241 per weekday

19,000

Average estimated number of vehicles on that stretch if Tesoro Extension is completed

49,000

Average estimated number of vehicles on that stretch in 2035 if toll road connects to I-5

RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA – Mayor Anthony Beall remembers a time when Santa Margarita Parkway and Live Oak Canyon Road were the only ways in and out of the city.

"We used to be in the outskirts of civilization," Beall said.

Then along came the 241 toll road. The toll road provided quick access for residents heading to and from other cities for work or play.

"It's a lifeline for our community," Beall said. "A lot of people in Rancho don't have the ability to work within the borders of our town."

Today the 241 stops at Oso Parkway, and plans to extend it south 16 miles and connect it to I-5 have caused controversy.

Such an extension would provide an alternative route to the coast and to San Diego, and it would bring traffic through Rancho Santa Margarita, a potential boon for city businesses.

CONTROVERSIAL PLAN

In 2008, the TCA's effort to extend the 241 16 miles from Oso to I-5 through San Onofre State Beach Park was killed by the state Coastal Commission in part because of environmental concerns. The decision was appealed to federal officials, but the commission's denial was upheld.

After meeting with project proponents and opponents and reviewing decisions by state and federal agencies, TCA officials in 2011 came up with the idea of extending the 241 in stages, in hopes of eventually connecting it to I-5.

The first stage would extend the toll road 5.5 miles from Oso to yet-to-be-built Cow Camp Road, just north of Ortega Highway. TCA is calling the project the Tesoro Extension.

The goal is to begin construction this year and open the road to drivers in 2016, TCA spokeswoman Lori Olin said. Before work can begin, TCA needs signoff on some elements of the project by state and federal agencies, and an amended environmental impact report must be certified by the TCA board of directors.

Beall, who sits on the TCA board, said it would be better if the toll road were extended to San Clemente as originally planned. "However, extending it five miles will provide tremendous benefit all by itself to residents all over south Orange County."

MORE VEHICLES, MORE BUSINESS

If the 241 is extended, the number of vehicles traveling through Rancho Santa Margarita could nearly triple, according to TCA projections.

TCA officials say drivers traveling south from the Inland Empire and Los Angeles County could take the 241 instead of getting on I-5. And people from the coast and San Diego County might choose to drive the toll road to head north.

Local drivers also are expected to use the toll road, which today sees an average of 7,000 vehicles traveling between Oso and Antonio parkways during the weekday, according to the TCA. That figure would jump to 19,000 with the Tesoro Extension in place, according to TCA estimates.

Area business owners are hoping the extension makes Rancho Santa Margarita a shopping destination for more out-of-town customers. The city is still feeling lingering effects of the economic downturn, which resulted in a decrease in taxable sales of 80 percent, according to the state Board of Equalization.

"Accessibility is huge for our city. We won't be a successful business community without that," Rancho Santa Margarita Chamber of Commerce President Suzanne Singh said. "People aren't coming here unless they have a reason to."

George Valdovinos used to run a restaurant in San Juan Capistrano before he became owner and executive chef at Embarcadero California Bistro in Rancho Santa Margarita. He said the distance between the two cities deters some former patrons from visiting his new spot.

"They have to go north and then up Crown Valley or Oso Parkway," he said. "The toll road would make it much quicker."

Applied Medical, a global company headquartered in Rancho Santa Margarita, manufactures medical equipment. Group Vice President Mary Jo Stegwell said the toll road extension would help her company ship products south.

AT ISSUE

Environmentalists are concerned extending the toll road any length toward I-5 eventually would affect San Onofre State Beach Park, a habitat for many endangered animals and plants.

The state beach park is the last open space along the Southern California coast, and it would be ruined by the toll road, said Mark Rauscher, coastal preservation manager for San Clemente-based Surfrider Foundation.

"Who wants to go to a beach that's paved? You can go to Huntington for that," Rauscher said. "This place provides the natural experience that you can't find anywhere nearby."

Protesters packed a March 13 hearing before the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board from which TCA must obtain one of its last permits for the Tesoro Extension. A decision on the permit could come next month.

Environmentalists at the hearing opposed the Tesoro Extension.

"Everyone knows that the first five-mile segment is the first part of the 16-mile road," said Damon Nagami, senior attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council, a New York-based environmental advocacy group. "If they stopped the road at 5 miles and promise not to go any further, that's a different conversation, but they never said that."

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